Food product breading machines are widely used in restaurants and food processing industry to coat food items such as chicken tenders, fish filets, onion rings, etc., with breading and/or batter prior to frying or baking the items. An example of a food product breading machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,170, issued on Jun. 12, 2001 to Whited. The '170 patent is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. The '170 patent discloses a breading/battering machine that provides a battering unit disposed vertically above breading unit. The product follows a generally horizontal C-shaped path. The raw product is input at a first end of the machine and moves generally horizontally through the upper battering unit toward an opposite, second or back end of the machine. After completion of battering the product is conveyed downwardly to the breading unit. The product moves generally horizontally through the breading unit back toward the first end where the finished product is discharged from the machine.
Another food product breading machine is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/235,299, filed Sep. 26, 2005 to Muniga, Whited & Bettcher. The '299 application is also assigned to the assignee of the present invention and is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. The '299 application discloses a high volume breading/battering machine having two parallel breading/battering units driven by a drive unit positioned between the two units.
Generally, breading machines are placed on a flat support table. The finished products are discharged into a breading lug, commonly referred to in the industry as a lug or bus tub, positioned near the product discharge first end of the breading machine. Depending on the food item being processed, a perforated metal basket may be supported within the lug with the finished product being discharged into the basket. This may be done, for example, so that excess breading or grease may drip off the finished product falling through openings in the basket into the lug as the finished product sits in the basket.
Typically, the lug is placed in a lug cart which can be wheeled from the breading machine when the lug is full or sufficient finished product has been produced by the breading machine. Additionally, at periodic intervals, the breading machine must be cleaned which involves cleaning out the breading in a breading reservoir of the breading unit. Typically, access to the breading reservoir is from the second or back end of the breading machine. Again, a lug placed in a lug cart is used to catch the breading during the cleaning operation.
The support table poses a number of difficulties. The table must be sturdy enough to support the significant weight of the breading machine. In breading machines used in restaurants, space is typically very limited and the breading machine will be placed with the second or back end against a wall. When cleaning the machine, the support table (with the breading machine positioned on the table) must be pulled away from the wall to access the back end of the machine. Pulling a table across the floor stresses the legs of the table.
Utilizing the lug carts is also problematic. The lug carts are often top heavy and pose a tipping hazard. Because the carts are wheeled, they also tend to move easily when bumped or jostled or simply from vibration of the breading machine. If the cart moves, finished product can miss the lug and fall onto the floor, thereby increasing waste and posing a slipping hazard. Further, when a lug is full, an employee has to bend over and remove the lug from the cart. This exposes the employee to back strain from lifting a heavy lug from the low height of the cart. Finally, lug carts do not provide a surface surrounding the lugs to direct material into the lug. This is especially problematic with respect to cleaning out the breading from the breading machine. Because the support table is generally wider than the lug and the lug cart, breading often spills from the machine and table over the sides of the lug and the lug cart resulting in breading falling on the floor and causing an unsanitary work area. Employees sometimes improvise with a sheet pan propped against the back end of the breading machine to direct the breading from the machine to the lug, which requires additional work and slows the cleaning process. Additionally, the sheet pan then also has to be cleaned and stored.
What is needed is a support table assembly for supporting a breading machine that provides a stable support surface for the machine, is easily movable to facilitate cleaning and that locks into position upon being moved to a desired position. What is also desired is a support table assembly that provides an efficient width for cleaning the machine and that provides a support structure for supporting a lug at the first, finished product end of the breading machine for receiving finished products and at the second, back end of the breading machine for receiving discharge material, such as breading or flour, from the machine during a cleaning operation, all without the need for lug carts.